Oja, en ik ben de Dutchmen Jensen, maar die dwaas heeft mijn naam natuurlijk verkeerd gespeeld, het is natuurlijk Jansen. (ja, van de voornaam!)
The Ultimate B.C. Tour Teaser
The first sampling of a 12-day epic tour of eastern B.C. with Sacred Rides
Words and photos by Stuart Kernaghan
It's late July and I'm half-way through a 12-day road trip with Sacred Rides. The Fernie, B.C-based bike tour company is showing me and five other riders from North America and Europe some of the singletrack goodies in the Kootenays as part of the company's Ultimate B.C. XC adventure trip.
My trip started with a short flight from Vancouver to Calgary, where I was picked up at the airport by Eddy and Amanda, the lead guide and tail gunner for this trip. I piled into the 10-passenger van with most of the guests and settled in for the three-hour drive to Fernie. The trip promised to be an interesting collection of rides over the next 12 days - short loops that could be ridden from our accommodations, longer excursions that required a short drive, and then seriously long backcountry efforts that started in the middle of nowhere.
The first three days of the tour were an introduction to Fernie singletrack and the joys of riding at altitude. The city of Fernie itself sits at 3,200' of elevation, so those of us who came from sea level were suffering a little bit right off the bat. The fact that the temperature was in the low to mid-30s Celcius didn't help much. We sampled a number of the local trails that are accessible from town - the Black Forest, the Gorby climb, Roots and Roots Extension, and Dem Bones - and got idea of what we were in for over the next two weeks.
This was also a chance for everyone to size each other up. The guides got an idea of the riders' skill and fitness levels, and the riders got to see how good the guides were at their jobs. The fact that Eddy had the technical abilities that come from a DH racing background and the fitness of someone who spends every day for months on end on a bike was reassuring for the group.
Sacred Rides guide Eddy Plant, showing that it's possible to find hucks on an XC tour
Riding in Fernie in mid-July was a bit of a challenge because of the combination of heat and altitude, especially for the people who had flown in from Europe, who were dealing with jet lag and a eight- or nine-hour time difference. But the hard work and steep but relatively short climbs paid off in spades with amazing views of the mountains around Fernie.
Fernie singletrack that's accessible from town, with the ski hill in the background
People who have ridden in B.C. know that this province offers an amazing variety of terrain, and that even XC trails can include small or medium-sized stunts. Those stunts proved to be an eye openers for some of the people on the trip, especially a young Dutch kid named Jensen. Jensen arrived in B.C. with an ultra-light hardtail with very narrow flat handlebars, 2.1" tires, and Magura rim brakes. It was the perfect bike for Holland, but both bike and rider were out of their element on Kootenay singletrack.
It didn't take a brain surgeon to see that Jensen was eyeing up the Giant Reign X and Santa Cruz Nomad that Eddy and I were riding. I thought should do my part to further Dutch-Canadian relations, so I lent him my Nomad for a little while. Ten minutes on the bike and Jensen was happier than a little kid on Christmas morning, especially after making it over this A-frame on his first try. At that point, we started to worry that he was going to sell his bike and plane ticket, and set up camp in B.C.
The Flying Dutchman sampling the benefits of 6" of travel, under Eddy's watchful eye
Day four of the trip was a combined travel / ride day. Everyone piled into the van for the drive from Fernie to the Rossland area, a couple of hours down the road. After dropping the bags off at the guest house where we were staying and a quick change into riding gear, we shuttled up to the top of Oasis. A six kilometre high-speed logging road rip brought us to the beginning of a network of sweet downhill trails that has been groomed to near-perfection over the years.
Everyone was having a blast on the trail, picking up speed and carrying it through corners, experiencing berms for the first time, and launching small airs off random kickers along the way. Things got a bit trickier as we neared the bottom of the trail, which was a sandy descent with off-camber corners and tight switchbacks. The cliffside exposure didn't do much to ease nerves. Everyone survived their first run, though, and a second run down the same trail gave everyone a chance to push their limits - except Eddy and I. We both pinch flatted, and were skittish about flatting again on the rocky sections so took things a little slower.
You really didn't want to drift it into this corner too fast. The sprawling metropolis of Trail below... || Photo: Eddy Plant
The next day was a big one - the Seven Summits ride in Rossland. Seven Summits is a 41km trail that starts outside town, climbs for several kilometres, and then follows the ridgeline of seven mountain summits. We all knew it was going to be a challenge, and the nervous anticipation in the group was almost palpable. Thankfully, the temperature had dropped considerably since Fernie, and was only in the high teens - for the first part of the day, at least.
Moderately technical uphill singletrack got everyone's heart beating quickly, and it became clear that this day would indeed be epic. Once we got to the top of the first summit, though, I knew right away that the effort would be well worth it. The views were spectacular, and the promise of a 14km descent was a nice incentive to keep the legs spinning.
Over the hills and far away - looking back along the trail as it snakes the ridgeline on the Seven Summits ride
I'm in Revelstoke right now, chilling after a wet morning ride and an epic day yesterday in the Keystone / Standard basin. We're packing up for Golden tomorrow, where we'll spend a few days before heading on to Mount Seven and then finish off with one last epic in Kananaskis Country. Stay tuned for a full ride report, complete with all the pictures you could possibly want, shortly after I get back to Vancouver.
And if you're interested signing up for the Sacred Rides Ultimate B.C. adventure yourself, there are still spaces available in the September 7 - 19, 2007 trip. Contact Mike at ride@sacredrides.com or 1-888-423-7849 to book now. [/img]